Network Password Access

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I have a Linksys Wireless-G 2.4 GHz network router that is password protected. It is compatible with Vista though I don’t think that matters as far as my question is concerned. Twice now I have given my password to people, my son and a nephew, to allow them to connect to my network while they were in town visiting. I’m not sure what the little computer was that my nephew was using but my son was on an iPhone, I believe it is, and neither of them could connect even though I know they had the correct password. I don’t believe it has anything to do with what their equipment is because my son went to his sister’s and immediately was able to connect to her password protected router from AT&T. Now I should maybe mention that his phone is also from AT&T but on the other hand he is also able to connect to his wireless router in his own home and it, like mine, is a Linksys router. Why would they not be able to connect to my router when they were using the correct password and how can I correct this?

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Could be your firewall is NOT allowing their ip address.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I have a Linksys Wireless-G 2.4 GHz network router that is password protected.

What security are you using: WEP? WPA2? Cheaper and older devices may not support WPA2…

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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What security are you using: WEP? WPA2? Cheaper and older devices may not support WPA2…

How would I check to find out what security I’m using? The only thing I see on the box is 802.11g and WPA2 does that tell you anything.

I am using the XP built in Firewall plus what ever comes with the router itself. Are you saying to shut down the router firewall some kind of way? If so how?

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How would I check to find out what security I’m using? The only thing I see on the box is 802.11g and WPA2 does that tell you anything.

I am using the XP built in Firewall plus what ever comes with the router itself. Are you saying to shut down the router firewall some kind of way? If so how?

Check your router congfiguration for wireless connections. You may have a limit set on the number of connections. You may have limited the number of IP addresses available to be assigned and all are in use.

Joe

--Joe

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Check your router congfiguration for wireless connections. You may have a limit set on the number of connections. You may have limited the number of IP addresses available to be assigned and all are in use.

Joe

Thanks. Since I have no idea how to do that I will see if I can get some help from the place I buy my computers.

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A quick web search suggests that your device may be a Linksys WRT54GL, can you look at this page and confirm that this is the device you are using.

You can download a user manual from the user guide link on that page.

Edited by StuartR to add
the manual references are correct, but the rest of the second paragraph should have been a reply to a completely different question in another forum, my brain somehow joined them together – I have now deleted the irrelevant text to avoid confusion

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A quick web search suggests that your device may be a Linksys WRT54GL, can you look at this page and confirm that this is the device you are using.

You can download a user manual from the user guide link on that page. Chapter 3 of the user manual explains how to enable and disable the firewall. This chapter also has a section “Access Restrictions / Internet Access” which explains how to enable and disable access to specific services. Finally, there is an option to enable Logging, which may help to understand whether the router is blocking time server requests.

Thank you. That is my router and I even still have the box it came in but there doesn’t seem to be a manual in it so your link will be very handy.

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but there doesn’t seem to be a manual in it”

There is probably no paper manual. The manual will be a PDF file which you can find on the router installation CD.

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How would I check to find out what security I’m using? The only thing I see on the box is 802.11g and WPA2 does that tell you anything.
I am using the XP built in Firewall plus what ever comes with the router itself. Are you saying to shut down the router firewall some kind of way? If so how?

I should have said wireless security when I asked if it was WEP or WPA2 – you have told me that WPA2 is set, so my previous comment to check whether the other devices you mention can support WPA2 applies… You should get that information from the documentation which came with the equipment, though it may not be easy.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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I should have said wireless security when I asked if it was WEP or WPA2 – you have told me that WPA2 is set, so my previous comment to check whether the other devices you mention can support WPA2 applies… You should get that information from the documentation which came with the equipment, though it may not be easy.

Thanks. I agree it would be hard to find out about the other equipment but if he brings it again I guess we could do a WEB search to help get that information.

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I’m not a fan of Linksys (at all) but my fiber connection at home came with this same router. I also had the same problem until I did a hard-reset on the thing. There’s a small reset button on the back that you have to hold down for 30 seconds. Once it’s reset, you’ll have to reconfigure it. Going through this process made it so that others could connect in my case – maybe it’ll work for you.

*golf claps for Linksys, clearly unimpressed.* lol

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I’m not a fan of Linksys (at all) but my fiber connection at home came with this same router. I also had the same problem until I did a hard-reset on the thing. There’s a small reset button on the back that you have to hold down for 30 seconds. Once it’s reset, you’ll have to reconfigure it. Going through this process made it so that others could connect in my case – maybe it’ll work for you.

*golf claps for Linksys, clearly unimpressed.* lol

Thank you both.

Kel are you saying that it will reset my password access to nothing and I would have to go on line to reset it?

Thanks.

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As I recall, it will completely reset your router to the factory default settings. You could look it up to confirm, but I think the default password/id to access the router itself is a blank login ID with a password of ‘admin’.

Once you’ve reset it, you’ll have to go in and define your network password, security type, and Network SSID (What your wifi network is called.)

There should be a step-by-step guide on how to configure the router online. Definitely make sure you grab this before you begin – you may not have internet access until the router is configured.

Hope this helps, and Good Luck!

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As I recall, it will completely reset your router to the factory default settings. You could look it up to confirm, but I think the default password/id to access the router itself is a blank login ID with a password of ‘admin’.

Once you’ve reset it, you’ll have to go in and define your network password, security type, and Network SSID (What your wifi network is called.)

There should be a step-by-step guide on how to configure the router online. Definitely make sure you grab this before you begin – you may not have internet access until the router is configured.

Hope this helps, and Good Luck!

Thank you

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Thank you

You should also create a backup of your configuration after you get everything set up and running properly. With my Linksys router, this is available from the “Administration>Config Management” page of the Linksys online configuration utility. Save (backup) the configuration to a location on your hard drive, and if the router ever loses its configuration (and it has happened to me), you can simply go back to the same screen and restore the file. This saves having to manually enter all of the information again.

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You should also create a backup of your configuration after you get everything set up and running properly. With my Linksys router, this is available from the “Administration>Config Management” page of the Linksys online configuration utility. Save (backup) the configuration to a location on your hard drive, and if the router ever loses its configuration (and it has happened to me), you can simply go back to the same screen and restore the file. This saves having to manually enter all of the information again.

Thank you. I think I am going to try to contact Linksys and see if they can talk me through any of the changes I have to make especially if there is a chance I will be without Internet if I reset it.

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I think I am going to try to contact Linksys and see if they can talk me through any of the changes I have to make especially if there is a chance I will be without Internet if I reset it.

Good luck with that. It was a series of calls to Linksys that added them to my personal blacklist for future purchases. I have never experienced such poor phone support from any other company – ever. I’d be interested to hear how you fare – hopefully they’ve improved in the past several years.

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Good luck with that. It was a series of calls to Linksys that added them to my personal blacklist for future purchases. I have never experienced such poor phone support from any other company – ever. I’d be interested to hear how you fare – hopefully they’ve improved in the past several years.

LOL I have to tell you I’m not sure when I purchased this router but I’ll say maybe 1 1/2 years ago and Linksys’s support is who helped me set up the password in the first place so I’m hoping that they can help me again because I don’t know the answers to the questions they ask when setting it up or configuring it, whatever it is called.

On a side note; I had a Netgear wireless router ahead of this Linksys and I could never rely on it to give me a good connection anywhere in my house other than within 3 feet of the router itself and sometimes not ever then. Plus it was supposed to be Vista compatible but it would never allow my sister’s Vista computer to connect to my network. Sometimes it would show an excellent connection in my living room then in the next few minutes the connection would show poor or even drop out completelt. I have never had anything less than a Very Good connection ever since switching to Linksys. I guess it all depends on how it works for you personally but I really have no complaints other than what I started this thread about.

Thanks.

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I don’t know if you’ve made any headway on this problem yet, however I thought I’d suggest one other thing to look at.

When I purchased my smartphone with WiFi ability, I needed to ensure the router was configured to accept a connection from the MAC address of the smartphone. I had previously set the router to only allow known MAC addresses.

On most of the WiFi routers I’ve seen, you can allow or deny by known MAC address if you so desire, or leave it open to all MAC addresses.

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